Canning Season . . . Again

I've been in a chutney sort of mood. Last week my friends Shari and Doug gave me a big ol' bag of pears from their back yard. I wasn't quite sure what to do with them, so I made chutney. It was so yummy that I made tomato chutney this week. The tomato variety came out a little on the runny side (probably because the tomatoes were so juicy), but still delicious. It occurred to me that it would make a good marinade, so I tried it on some pork chops. I was right -- they were scrumptious! I made a LOT of chutney, so let me know if you want some.

I need to find a source for cabbages this week, as it's time for another round of sauerkraut. I've only got one quart left from last year's huge batch, and there's nothing like homemade kraut. I might even try putting some hot peppers in it this time and making it more like kim chee (sp?).

I've been noticing an awful lot of spider webs around here lately. It seems like I walk through one or two every morning on my way to the car. I took this picture this afternoon of one that was right above the hood of my car.

The glops are some weird little gnats that have been swarming around. Spider webs are cool, but kind of creepy to walk through at o'dark thirty.

I mentioned last post that I bought myself a new electric skillet. What is it about new appliances that makes me so giddy? I love them. Here it is frying up some chicken.

I really like it, except that it wants badly to slide around. I have to put it on one of those non-skid doohickeys when I use it.

You can probably tell that I'm still not particularly curmudgeonly. Maybe next week.